How to Lay A Tile Floor

November 12th, 2008 — Flooring, Handy Man, Tile 

tile1There is nothing quite like a tile floor. They look nice, they’re pretty easy to maintain and they are reasonably easy to install. You need only a basic amount of do it yourself experience to lay your own floor and it can give you a great feeling of accomplishment when you’re done. You will need a few tools and materials to get started. They include:

  • caulk
  • floor cement
  • lathe
  • scraper
  • the tiles
  • a wetsaw or tile snipper
  • some gloves

We also recommend knee pads since you will be spending a lot of time kneeling on the floor and since tiles are hard, this can get pretty painful after awhile.

You’ll need to decide whether to rip out your old floor or put your tile above it. We recommend completely removing the old floor for the best results. If it is an old tile floor, you’ll need to spend some time chipping and chiseling away. For carpet, pull up the carpet and pad, to reveal the subfloor underneath. Sweep up any debris and sand down any rough spots. For floors with linoleum or peel and paste tiles, you’ll need to rip all of these up. It’s actually more work to remove the old flooring than it is to lay the new one, so don’t worry, it gets easier from here.

Once you’ve got the floor bare and prepared (ie: sanded, scrubbed and swept) you’re ready to start. Remember, you don’t want to cement yourself in a corner. Don’t get too carried away - just take it one row at a time. By taking your time and laying each tile carefully, you’ll be a lot happier with the results. Measure off each row and determine how many tiles you’ll be using. This will change since there will be some space in between, so don’t cut any tiles to fit just yet.

Mix your cement and spread it on the subfloor for the first row. Take your first tile and carefully place it into the cement. Press down firmly and move to the next tile. You should leave a little room in between each, but no more than ½ an inch. Put this tile down and continue until you reach the end of row. Ideally, it will be a perfect fit, but this rarely happens. Measure off the space and then either cut the tile in the wetsaw or use your snipper. Place this piece in and move to the next row.

Keep going until you have the whole room finished. If you’re going around curves or fixtures, you may want to get a template to make cutting the tile easier. Plan this out ahead of time so you don’t end up with any surprises. The amount of time it takes for the tile to set will depend on your cement. Make sure that you follow the instructions and leave the floor alone to cure - no activity on it until it is done! Caulk any sides that may come into contact with water, and if necessary, caulk any gaps in between the tiles.

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Taking Care of Stained Wooden Floors

October 22nd, 2008 — Clean, Flooring, Handy Man, Refurbish, Wood Floors 

Whether you live in an old house that has original wooden floors, or if you have a pet problem with staining, taking care of stained wooden floors doesn’t have to be difficult. Before you think about replacing expensive wooden floors, there are a few options that you can try that are much more cost effective. These simple solutions may help you save quite a bit of money.

The first step to take is to determine what the stain is, if at all possible. If you are dealing with pet stains, then the cause should be obvious. This can be a problem, especially if urine or feces have soaked through the boards, and into the subfloor. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to replace the entire floor. Here are some tips to get you started.

First, purchase an enzymatic cleaner that is rated for removing pet stains. These can usually be found in pet supply stores. You may also want to purchase a special blacklight that can be used to help highlight any old urine stains that may no longer be visible to the human eye. Follow the instructions on the enzymatic cleaner, and use the blacklight to determine whether or not any residue has been left behind.

The stains should be lessened and any odor problems should be removed, provided that the material did not seep through the boards and into the subfloor. If the odor is still present, you can try cleaning it one more time, since many enzymatic cleaners do require two applications. If you’re still not seeing the desired results there is one more option that you can try before ripping out the entire floor.

Purchase some Killz paint at your local hardware store. This type of paint is usually oil based, so you will need to get the proper clean-up supplies for your brushes and rollers. While there is a Killz that is water based, it is not generally as effective as the oil based solution. If you like, you can start with the low-odor, water based Killz first, and then top coat it with the oil based version if it does not work.

Paint the entire floor with Killz and allow it to dry. You can typically add a second coat after an hour if necessary. For bad stains or particularly awful odors, two coats or even three may be necessary. What this paint does is basically seal in any odors, giving you a clean slate. You won’t be able to refinish the wood floor, but then again, you won’t have to replace it either. A few gallons of Killz are a lot cheaper than an entirely new floor.

This solution works well for other types of stains, especially if they are soaked into the wood. However, for slight problems or if you want to retain the look of your wood floors, stripping them and restaining them is probably the best option, even if it is a little more expensive.

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